Letās shed some light on the latest project of a remarkable Swiss composer-storyteller based in Brussels. To ArtistCongratz he comes across far from scaryā¦ nevertheless the music we are talking about is called āUnheimlichā (scary in German but meaning much more) The third album written by Camille-Alban Sprengās ODIL is the first one ft. Nina Kortekaas.
Triggered to know the story behind it, we had an inspiring chat with Camille šļø
Camille Alban Spreng: Unheimlich is a funny word actually. It doesnāt have any real translation, in English nor French. The basic idea of the album is trying to translate this word into music. It describes a feeling you might know and yet sometimes you might not be able to grasp it. Very strange.
AC: How do you start to translate something like this into music?
Camille: Fascinated by the work of the great American poet Allen Ginsberg from the 50ās, 60ās and 70ās, I wanted to bring a kind of hommage to his writing.āļø His work also has this kind of strangeness, weirdness to it. And at the same time itās deeply rooted into our daily life.
As I was writing š¼, thesetwo ideas were living at the same time. There are actually a lot of links between the poetry of Ginsberg and this captivating word I wanted to translate into music. Our mission with Nina is to make all this more accessible through the songs.šµ
ArtistCongratz š selection surely includes āDaily Wonderā
Camille: Thatās a funny one. Itās a ballad and a long mellow song. The only one on the album. The first idea of this song was to adapt a Ginsberg-poem but in the end I chose another direction and wrote the lyrics myself. The idea behind the song ? What if we could see everything in the world and witness the daily life of whom everā¦or looking at the daily life of an animal or a plant for instance.š±
AC: A mysterious animal actually features on the cover of your albumā¦
Camille: Thatās exactly what I wantedā¦ somewhat unheimlichā¦š¾ ā¦just so you know, itās actually a dalmation;)
Want to witness some Ā«š¶UnheimlichšµĀ» manoeuvres first hand? ODIL is playing live this Friday February 23 @Rataplan – Borgerhout/Antwerp https://www.rataplanvzw.be/e/odil
Augustijn Vermandere. His name sounds like a clock in Flanders.
With his father being one of our most treasured troubadours, Willems youngest son is making his own way quite successfully as a musician and singersongwriter.
ArtistCongratz is keen to find out more about his latest album Vier, which is West Flemish dialect for āFireā as well as Dutch for āCelebrateā and āFourā.
So Vier is like Celebrating Four times with Fire!
Augustijn presenting his latest album live at De Grote Post in Ostend
AC: Congratz on your new album Augustijn! Nice opportunity to compare West Flemish and English with you, being a native singer songwriter.
Augustijn: Thanks! Actually I think there are similarities between the two. Being close to England might have something to do with it. Probably also our history of always tending to adapt ourselves. Belgians in general, West Flemings even more.
So it seems rather logic that foreign words pop up in our dialects. Mostly in spoken language.
I actually read that the whole coastal area of Europe has more English sounding words in their vocabulary than the inland area does. So I guess we must be connected somehow.
How do you come across this āphenomenonā while writing lyrics ?
On my new album, thereās this song called Bucketlist. An English word but often used here as well. Searching for a West Flemish ātranslationā, there seemed to be no good alternative.
I realised that ābucket listā actually sounds really Flemish. So I used it.
AC: How about Bulldozer š¶
Augustijn: (laughs) indeed, another English word incorporated in Belgium. And Vierā¦
Nice talk in Augustijnās hometown Ostend
AC: Any plans to cross our borders?
Augustijn: Itās not really my ambition but you never knowā¦ Icelanders also have a very strange sounding language practically no one else understands. But no one seems to mind that in the rest of Europe. People like it eventhough no one understands. Why should West Flemish be any different (laughs).
Augustijn rocks šøš„
AC: The song Steenkerke on Vier bathes in pure nostalgiaā¦
Augustijn: A little village, thereās nothing there but still itās my whole world. At least it used to be as a kid. This is a nostalgic song sung by my five year old self about the place I grew up in. Near historic monuments that go back to World War I. Like a military cemetery, where both English en Belgian soldiers are buried. This was one of our favourite places where we used to play a lot. Thereās this beautiful lawn. Always very quietā¦
AC: You also sing about catching sticklebacks in the canal with a āseuleā. And in your albumās artwork we can actually see pictures of you as a toddler. Were you already into music back then?
Augustijn: They bought me a violin when I was four years old but I donāt recall playing it (laughs). But music was always present in the house in many forms with instruments all around. I started by some piano and guitarā¦
By the way a āseuleā is actually a bucket where we would collect the fish in.
AC: Great, one more West-Flemish word learnt, to check off on ourā¦ bucket-list.
šµš¶š„4ļøā£š„³ open call; find out which song refers to epic lyrics written by Augustijnās father Willem š£
Spring has arrived ! ArtistCongratzā cue to treat you to some early summer vibes with a Latin-Belgian twist šŖšøš§šŖ
This band juggles its way to the hearts of people AND their dancing shoes. šŗ
To captivate a crowd is right up the alley of five stagelovers, who call themselves āRumbaristasā. Their brandnew album, just a few weeks old, is called āMalabaresā, which is Spanish for jugglers.
ArtistCongratz had an inspiring chat with bandmembers Willy Fuego and Roel Poriau at AB-club, right after Rumbaristas swept the audience of their feet in a swirling showcase š¶šŗš„š¤
AC: Congratz on the new album! How does it feel to finally share your songs with the world?
Roel: It feels great. The last three years, we put a lot of work and effort in it. During the Covid era, we have been working a long time on all the new songs.
AC: Was it like a benefit of confinement, having more freedom and time to write?
Roel: In a way yes but because we really are a live band, we also missed playing in front of a live audience. Being able to do that now, along with all the good vibes and people dancing to the songs is really a nice reward for all the work on Malabares.
Back then, we had some 20 to 30 tracks ready to record but when we sat together with our producer, some of the tracks turned out to be too dark. Covered in Covid darkness, letās say.We really want to keep a balance between happy and slightly darker songs. Tonight was all about party though. People dancing on our music is the greatest reward.
RUMBARISTAS š¶š¼
AC: Playing the songs for the very first time, must be special indeed
Roel: There were a few concerts before this one. Two weeks ago we played in Granada and soon we will also be playing again in Belgium, Serbia and Bulgaria. Probably Holland tooā¦
AC: Maybe some colourful festivals as well, like TAZ or Dranouterā¦
AC: Back to Malabares, which means jugglingā¦With words? Music, genres, each other? (Laughs) Where did the idea come from?
Willy: In Spain the people use the word juggle when they struggle to keep on going. When they cope, the people do āmalabaresā.
Roel: We also shot an extraordinary video, made by Willy and Joan Garriga. Made in Barcelona, itās about a mother who also has to juggle to make ends meet. Sheās struggling to make a living, for her son too.
AC: Any favouritetracks on the album? Or does that feel like choosing between your babies?
Willy: All the songs capture one particular moment of feelings. Happiness, nostalgiaā¦
āBut we do have a special bond with one song in particular, actually. Itās called āLa Vida es BellaāIn a way, this song has it all.
Willy Fuego
Roel: This was a collaboration with Amparo SĆ”nchez also known as Amparanoia.(ed.note: Amparanoia is the stage name of Spanish singer/guitarist Amparo SĆ”nchez who combines her first name with the word āparanoia’. Willy also played in her band for a long time.
A lot of different things come together in that record. Itās danceable, it has a latin vibe, nice rhythm, trumpetsā¦And it contains the melancholy that Willy often has in his songs.
AC: How did you all meet?
Roel: I met Thomas, the trumpet-player, first. I was working with him, for ālāorchestre International du VetexāWilly was playing with Amparo Sanchez while in Belgium. We did a kind of jam together in Tournai, where her manager lives. The three of us started to play. Which felt really great. Of course we needed a bass player. I invited Thomas, with whom I played in Think Of One before.
About Rumabaristas creative process:
Roel: For this album, we really worked more collectively, but most of the time, Willy will start a song. Sometimes with a rhythm track I already created. Or on his own. Then we start working with that. Looking for the right groove, Tomasino will write the melodies while we come up with lyrics in different languages. Willy has also found a way to leave a lot of things open, so we can fill it in.
Want to catch this band live?
In May Rumbaristas starts touring again.
Rumbaristas, not your typical Belgian band, besides welcomed on stages abroad, they are also breaking through our national language borders. They can be found both on stages in the northern as well as the southern part of Belgium. Gigs in Tournai, Namur (in a monastery) are coming up.
The band succeeds to mesmerize young to older audiences, in different places. Including the iconic AB-club, one of the best venues for sound.
The band also presented their first album here.
Roel: Itās very difficult to find a venue that has all the qualities of AB. Every musician and/or band knows this, good technicians, great acoustics.
Other music temples On Rumbaristasā wishlist are: Paradiso and Apolo club Barcelona. Spread the word ! And the music of course.
Pictures by Anthony Henry
Backstage at š Ancienne Belgique, with bandmembers Roel, Willy and their producer (picture by Griet De Blende)
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